It is difficult to remain neutral on the subject of one Michelle Wie. After the disastrous first round 79, it was tempting to say she is totally out of her league. Then she authors a tremendous 68 in the second round and it was tempting to overpraise. Let's have a look at what occurred and the surrounding situations.

Round One
Making it difficult for Wie, the hometown crowd was out in force. The tendency of a golfer in that situation is to try too hard, especially a young golfer. The wind was blowing but that is no excuse. It was blowing for everyone. She's played there a ton of times and would be familiar with the weather conditions. Besides her coach Leadbetter (now infamously) said she's the only LPGA player he's seen who can flight the ball. She knows the greens extremely well and is very familiar with playing out of that type of rough. She did not strike the ball as well as she normally does and her putting was as bad as mine - on a bad day.

Round Two
The wind dies down for the afternoon tee times and Wie & others take advantage. She turns it around and makes 7 birdies. Unfortunately for her, they are accompanied by 4 more bogies and she misses the cut by 4 shots. Her ballstriking is improved as she stuffs several iron shots and she makes some putts: ten 1-putts against a single 3-putt.

My take on all this is that Michelle Wie has undeniable talent. Even her biggest critics must admit that a 16 year old shooting 68 under PGA Tour conditions is sensational. Only 11 pros bettered her score that day, but to be fair, half of the field was at a disadvantage because of the wind in the morning. The thing we should admit is that if she can do it once, there is a CHANCE she will one day put 2 of these good round together and make a PGA Tour cut.

That first round 79 is troubling because it appears that once again she has succumbed to pressure. I will give her a pass on this round because it is significant that Wie has not played much competitive golf. If you noticed last week at the Mercedes, the pros who hadn't played much over the Winter were noticeably rusty and did not perform well either. But the longer she struggles with handling pressure, the more unlikely it becomes that she actually WILL put 2 of these good rounds together.

So where does that leave it? She won't play again until the two LPGA tournaments in Hawaii next month. Wie will likely play in both and I will not change my opinions on her until the end of the 2nd of those two tournaments. She should be expected to reveal something resembling her true form by the end of the second one. Until then, let the debate rage on.

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